


Misconceptions

by Lionheart39



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Character Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 11:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30139044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lionheart39/pseuds/Lionheart39
Summary: Liz find out a bit more about UNIT and it's C.O. and realises she had misjudged the Brigadier!





	Misconceptions

Liz Shaw was sat in her family home in Oxford, the home in question being the Masters Lodge of St Matilda’s College, where her mother Dame Emily was Master! The usual calming effect of University life wasn't working this Christmas. She had been seconded to UNIT nearly four months ago and after her initial scepticism found out the truth about the threats to the planet! She was free of UNIT for a whole two weeks, the Brigadier had insisted she take the full holiday period off aftet that kidnapping incident.

Although she had been looking forward to this break, she didn't feel like she was really free. Her mind kept drifting back to UNIT, several times she had found her self waking in a panic and heading for the phone to ring up and check that everything was alright!

She knew they could cope without her, the Doctor could certainly deal with anything scientific that turned up. But she felt that without her, they wouldn't function as well as they usually did. Liz knew her role was vital, she was a buffer between two major elements of UNIT, on one side the passionate alien known as the Doctor, who cared deeply about everything. Who wanted to sort every problem by talking and reasoning and on the other The Brigadier who shot first and had a true indifference to the carnage that approach caused! Or she thought he was indifferent until she had seen him visiting the injured in hospital and listened to the men talking about him. They would follow him anywhere! Even the Doctor when not in one of his sulks would speak of the Brigadier fondly. The man was a true enigma to her! She shook her head why was she thinking about the Brigadier!

“Good grief Elizabeth, aren't you dressed for the dinner yet? You know the guests are due to arrive by 7.00 pm”

Liz turned and looked at her mother frowning slightly!

“I'm sure they are alright you know!”

Liz blinked her frown deepening!

“Your friends at UNIT will be alright, you've only been gone a couple of days”

Liz looked less sure, “Mum, UNIT, well they deal with some strange things!”

“I do know that Liz,” she said softly, “but, I’m sure, Alistair, would have rung up if he had needed your services!”

“You know the Brigadier?” Liz asked amazed, “and about UNIT?”

“Of course Dear! Alistair, is a charming man, he is on one of my committees, a real driving force! He was recommended to me by your Uncle Charles!”

Uncle Charles, was her Godfather, General, Sir Charles Powell! The man who, as a young military attaché to the British embassy in Poland, had helped Ruben Shaw to evacuate Jewish children from Poland before the country fell to the Nazi's.

“Well, chop chop, stop this mooning about and go and get changed! I want you at your best! There are several young gentlemen with out partners tonight who will need a bit of charming female company, so please dear try your best to be sociable!”

Liz just raised her eyes to the ceiling, her mother just couldn't accept that Liz really didn't want some man in her life. She had her work, there wasn't time in her days to be thinking about some man. Except lately that seemed to be all she was doing. Even if she was denying it to herself.

Ben Rafferty, the young, American, Astrophysicist, who was on an exchange from M.I.T, had been good company. Interesting to talk to and yes, rather charming. Liz saw her mother's smiles and couldn't help but feel annoyed at the way she kept manoeuvring them together! Liz had been rather pleased when much to her mother's annoyance Uncle Charles had suggested that she walk him through the quad to see the Christmas tree!

Before Dame Emily could foist Rafferty on to them Liz had collected their coats and they had let themselves out of the side door!

“Your mother is still trying to set you up with a husband I see.”

“Yes, there's no stopping her! You would think two grandchildren would be enough!“ Liz muttered

The older man laughed! 

“She's been doing the same to me for years, started a few years after I lost Rosemary!” the old man stopped talking, even now twenty years later the loss of his wife hurt!

Liz just squeezed his arm. She knew Uncle Charles had been a one woman man! No one could take the place of Aunt Rosemary in his heart!

“So how are you getting on at UNIT?”

Liz frowned. “UNIT?”

Uncle Charles chuckled! “Good girl, that was almost believable?”

“It's alright Liz, I'm part of the army liaison team, Old Scobey, reports to me!”

“Oh, you know Scobey!” Liz said slightly frostily.

Uncle Charles grinned, “Old Scobey isn't so bad! A very shy man, but decent, really! A good soldier!”

Liz made a none committal grunt!

“Well what do you make of our young Brigadier?” 

“A Good soldier!” Liz said scathingly. “If it moves shoot it, if it's a possible threat blow it up!”

Charles Powell raised his eyebrow! “Are you referring to that Lizard men incident?”

Liz nodded.

“Well for your information, that order to seal the caves came from Geneva. Lethbridge-Stewart may have agreed with it, but he did offer the suggestion, that we give your friend the Doctor a chance to negotiate first! The UN deemed it too dangerous. For an officer who had lost men to those things I think Lethbridge-Stewart was being very even handed! The Brigadier really does take losing men badly!”

Liz stopped walking and looked surprised. “He doesn't show it!”

Her Uncle turned around and looked at her! “He's a good officer Liz, you don't get to be a Brigadier before the age of forty if you aren't! And a good officer always feels the loss when anyone under his command is killed! Believe me, I can remember every man, who died following my orders! Lethbridge-Stewart isn't any different!”

Liz walked over to the nearest bench and sat down.

Charles sat next to her. “After the London Event,” Charles looked at her quizzically!

“The Doctor told me about that!” Liz said so her uncle didn't have to explain more!

“Perhaps he didn't tell you that hundreds lost their lives in that incident. Lethbridge-Stewart was one of the last men standing in central London! Old Hamilton, General Hamilton, that was his C.O. at the time, was seriously worried about him. Set him the task of getting the city back up and running, which he did magnificently. But still Hamilton was worried, and when I saw Lethbridge-Stewart at Colonel Spencer Pemberton’s funeral to tell you the truth, I saw why. The guy was at the end of his tether, couldn't stop his hands shaking!”

Liz was having difficulty accepting that Uncle Charles was talking about the same man!

“But somehow, he got himself together. Hamilton and he saw off a couple more alien attacks, they then had enough evidence to persuade the government that there was a threat that the country needed defending against. Lethbridge-Stewart put together the UK response to possible future alien attacks! And there were quite a few! Unfortunately there was a change of government an the people who had supported Hamilton lost power. Alien threats were no longer taken seriously! So Lethbridge-Stewart risked everything and went to the UN in Geneva and made the case for a global response to future alien invasions. Thus U.N.I.T. was formed, and that made him a lot of enemies!”

“Why?”

“Arrr, well, you see funding cuts were needed in the military and Lethbridge-Stewart’s group were everyone’s number one target! But once he had the UN on side, well the cuts had to be made elsewhere! It didn't help when just four years later he was proved right in that Vaughn incident with the Cybermen! Without Lethbridge-Stewart and your friend the Doctor, we would have been wiped out of existence! That got him even more enemies!”

Liz looked startled. “If he was proved right, if he saved the world?”

“Politicians don't like to be seen looking like fools! Tobias Vaughn had made a lot of ministerial friends! Friends who had tried to stop Lethbridge-Stewart’s investigations, they looked very foolish after the attack on the Earth!”

Liz could understand that, even in the world of academia, there was vicious in fighting.

“This last incident with Carrington at the space centre hasn’t helped, once again some ministers have been made to look foolish and Carrington’s friends at the M.O.D. haven't taken it well!” Charles said sadly.

“Haven't they been told what nearly happened?” Liz asked.

Her Uncle, smiled. “It doesn't matter what they were told, it's what they believe that matters. I don't think you believed what Lethbridge-Stewart said when he first recruited you, and if my bright and beautiful young goddaughter was sceptical, what chance do ignorant soldiers have?”

Liz smiled weakly, she still felt rather ashamed at her closed minded attitude at that first meeting. Sometimes she thought that was one of the reasons she was so off hand with the Brigadier!

Uncle Charles stood up and offered her his hand, she took it and they continued on their walk.

“Lethbridge-Stewart’s protection of the Doctor from certain agencies, who are interested in him, hasn't made him any friends either!”

“Other agencies?” Liz enquired

Her Uncle smiled at her, “Oh yes, an alien with a time machine, one who can't escape, there are plenty of agencies keen to get their hands on him. Do a little dissection find out how he ticks and take that TARDIS of his to pieces to try and get time travel capability! Believe me the only things stopping them are, the protection working for the UN gives him and the fact they don't want Lethbridge-Stewart going after them!”

Liz had never even considered that, she suspected that it hadn't occurred to the Doctor either.  
“Well the real reason for this walk is so I can ask, how are you after that kidnapping,” at her startled look he said, “and I mean, really, how are you? Lethbridge-Stewart is worried about you!”

Anger flashed to her cheeks!

“So he got in touch with you to find out! He's worried because I'm a woman, bloody typical!” She turned around and started to storm off!

“Stop right there young lady!” the old man bellowed!

Shocked Liz did as he said! She had never heard Uncle Charles raise his voice to her!

"No, of course he didn't.” he said more gently as he reached her! “It was in his report! You along with three other members of UNIT and a couple of the space centre staff were mentioned as possibly requiring support, after suffering unusual trauma! As your uncle of course I was worried about you so I wanted to check up for myself!”

Liz relaxed a little. “Sorry she said quietly,” then more quietly “I'm alright really, the Doctor is very good at talking things through. He helped a lot! It's just sometimes, I don't think the Brigadier takes me seriously because I'm a woman!”

Charles Powell shook his head, “What, even after he moved heaven and earth to recruit you!”

Liz frowned and thought about that. “Well, he's always calling me, Miss Shaw, never Doctor Shaw!” 

Charles laughed, “Perhaps there are just too many Doctor's around your lab, so it's less confusing to call you Miss Shaw!”

“He could just call me, Liz!”

Her Uncle just smiled, “He's an army man, one with old fashioned manners! Perhaps he finds calling you by your first name uncomfortable!”

They heard Dame Emily calling and saw her and several guests in coats heading there way, including Ben Rafferty!

“Doesn't she ever give up!” Liz said exasperated!

Her Uncle squeezed her hand and laughed.

Liz watched the group approaching. She decided that when she got back to the house she would just slip away and ring up U.N.I.T. HQ, just to see how everyone was. She glanced at her watch, at this time of night, the call would probably go straight to the Brigadier’s office! She smiled to herself at that thought!


End file.
